Westlake Chemical (WLK) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

WLK

Westlake Chemical (WLK - Free Report) closed at $94.83 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.55% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.95%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.64%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.12%.

Coming into today, shares of the chemical company had lost 23.79% in the past month. In that same time, the Basic Materials sector lost 11.11%, while the S&P 500 lost 3.49%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Westlake Chemical as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, Westlake Chemical is projected to report earnings of $6.53 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 61.63%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $4.17 billion, up 46.01% from the year-ago period.

WLK's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $22.44 per share and revenue of $15.33 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +44.03% and +30.2%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Westlake Chemical. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 2.98% higher. Westlake Chemical is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Westlake Chemical currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 4.29. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 6.28.

We can also see that WLK currently has a PEG ratio of 0.13. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Chemical - Plastic was holding an average PEG ratio of 0.16 at yesterday's closing price.

The Chemical - Plastic industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 243, which puts it in the bottom 4% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow WLK in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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